The day began as a typical cruising day with bacon and eggs with a strawberry blob muffin and V-8 juice. We had rolled out of bed about 5:30 and noticed that the little cove in which we were staying had absolutely no breeze blowing across it. We tidied up the boat and got underway by 7:15. I was concerned about the weather and also the fact that the Baltimore trip would be the longest that we had undertaken on this trip. We had a soft deadline of 4:00 when our niece, Beth Sherfy, was going to meet us for an evening cruise and dinner.
As we were motoring out of the Queenstown River, we passed the Morgan yawl that we had seen back in Chestertown a couple days before. We had talked to the skipper of the boat while in Chestertown as we encountered him on the dinghy dock. He was most friendly offering to drive us to wherever to get supplies. He was in the process of replacing his water heater (Can you imagine hot water on demand in a sailboat?). This morning they were moored in the middle of the channel that we were following on our way out. It was early and there was no sign of life as we passed within 20 feet or so.
On out in the channel, we set a course on our GPS for a buoy of Eastern Neck Island around which we would swing before heading fairly straight towards Baltimore. Earlier, before we left our anchorage, we had noticed that the ice in our coolers was about gone and we still have some perishable food stuffs so we transferred all of the ice that we had into one cooler and put only those items that were subject to spoilage in that one. As we were headed for our buoy, I realized that we were only two miles from a marina in Kent Narrows and we could get a bit of fuel, buy some ice, and send our blog out. So we headed for Kent Narrows.
Kent Narrows is a very busy place, especially on weekends. There are many condos and lots of big mostly power boats. We tried to call the Mears Point Marina on the radio but received no answer so we just headed for their fuel dock assuming that they were open. The time was probably 8:30 by the time we arrived. The guy at the fuel dock was helpful as we took on about 8 gallons of fuel in our big tank. That is the only tank we have used on this trip so that is about the amount that we have used in a little over a week. Not Bad. We also took on a top-up of water in our freshwater tank. I inquired about internet service and he said that we had to be moored there or buy 24 hours of time, he wasn’t sure. He suggested we go to the office and check and that we did. The office folks confirmed that you had to pay $9.00 for a 24 hour time pass to use their service. We bought Ice and headed for Baltimore.
Coming out of the Kent Narrows channel, we passed the Morgan Yawl and I hailed them on the radio and asked if he had gotten his water heater fixed. He laughingly answered, “Yes, thanks for asking, Ohio.”
Out on the bay, the water was glassy and the wind was absolutely calm. I figured out how to set up a route on our GPS so that we would have a course to follow all the way to our mooring for the evening. On our previous GPS, we could slave the course to our auto-pilot and it would actually steer us all the way there. This one is supposed to do that but so far, I haven’t been able to get it to do it.
The day was really hot. They were calling for a heat index of between 100 and 110 in Baltimore and the only reason we were somewhat comfortable on the boat was that we were moving at a bit over 6 mph causing our own wind. As it was, as we approached the entrance to the Patapsco River, the heat was really beginning to be uncomfortable. I removed as many of my clothes as was practical; there was no one around and I know, it wasn’t pretty, but it helped.
The weather channel was not calling for any storms in the Baltimore area but they were continually broadcasting a heat advisory. The sky was hazy. We were making good time and it appeared we would make our mooring location by about 2:30. We passed under the Francis Scott Key bridge and were met with a huge ship heading out of the harbor. Those things are really big. This one was over 600 feet long and looked like it was 20 stories high. Just past the bridge, there is a buoy that’s placed in the water every summer during the boating season in the location where Francis Scott Key was anchored in captivity and where he wrote the Stars Spangled Banner. We deviated from our course and took pictures of that buoy. Back on course, the wind had come up, we were well ahead of schedule so we raised the sails and proceeded to sail into the harbor. It was a nice ride. Our AIS warning system was going crazy telling us about all of the ships that were surrounding us. Most of them were moored but sending out their messages.
The sky to the northwest was looking a bit threatening so I turned on the weather channel and nothing as being said about storms in our area. I didn’t like what I was seeing so I used the radar app on my Iphone and sure enough, there was a line of storms heading directly for Baltimore. So down with the sails, on with the motor and we made a run for our mooring site. The site had been suggested by several folks and our cruising guide gave us a phone number for the dock master of the site. To make a long story short, the place to which the dock master was taking us was not the free one we were heading for, however, it was a good place to tie up; all the way at the end of the Inner Harbor. Their fees were the most reasonable that we had encountered so we took it. The fee was $1.50 per foot plus $8.00 for a power connection. Since we had been struggling a bit with our batteries, we decided to pay the price and put a full charge in the batteries. As we were closing the deal it began to rain and Tyrone, the dock hand, headed for the shelter of the office. We finished tying up the boat and before we could get inside, the storm really hit. There were tremendous winds that at one time, I was afraid it was going to blow Janine off of the dock. We were both really soaked.
I put on my “Frog Toggs” rain suit and went up to pay. As I walked along the waterfront, people looked at me as though I was a freak and the freaks smiled assuming that they had found one of their own. While I was walking, Beth called stating that she was in the area so we met and she had an opportunity to see what a freak of an uncle she was related to.
Janine, Beth and I walked around viewing the sights of the Inner Harbor before settling down for a delightful dinner at McCormick and Schmick (M & S) Restaurant. Janine had a baked tilapia dinner and I had a chicken cordon blu with crab sauce. Both were very good. After dinner, the three of us got on the boat and motored to the original place where we were going to stay, a place called Fells Point. It is a quaint area with many little shops. We walked around that area for a while finally settling down in an ice cream parlor.. Back in the boat, we motored out to Fort McHenry. It was fun having Beth point out various landmarks as we traveled. Out by the Fort, we picked up a bit of wind so we turned the boat around, raised the sails and headed back to the Inner Harbor. The sunset over Fort McHenry was one that will be remembered. The wind was light and it became obvious that we would get back to the dock well after dark if we continued to sail, so we dropped the sails and motored on in. We said our goodbyes to Beth and began getting ready for bed. I attempted to hook the shore power cord for which we had paid and was frustrated to find that although the prongs on the plug were right, the head of the plug would not let go into the socket far enough make a connection. So no charging of batteries tonight
It was hot! So we rigged a small fan to blow into our sleeping cave and drifted off to sleep at about 10:00
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